


Colossus

by Ysabetwordsmith



Series: Love Is For Children [25]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, College, F/M, Party, Rescue, Sex, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:08:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24041830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysabetwordsmith/pseuds/Ysabetwordsmith
Summary: At a college sorority party, Rhodey meets Tony.  This explains so much.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Sunset Bain/Tony Stark
Series: Love Is For Children [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/42722
Comments: 20
Kudos: 140





	Colossus

**Author's Note:**

> This was the freebie for the May 5, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl based on a prompt from Angel.

"Hey, sweetie, can you  
run this up to Sunny's room?"  
said a gorgeous brunette. She  
shoved a basket of condoms  
and lube into Rupert's arms.  
"I think she's gonna need 'em."

Rupert rolled his eyes.  
Just because he was black,  
half of MIT treated him  
like a servant boy.

On the other hand, it  
would be funny to walk in  
on some sorority bang.

When he opened the door,  
the whitest ass cheeks that  
he had ever seen in his life were  
pumping away on top of a chick  
who looked like a brunette Barbie.

The room was a total wreck.  
The desk was swept clean,  
the chair overturned, and  
some colorful garment  
hung from the ceiling fan.

"Hey, Sunny, I brought  
your stuff," said Rupert.

Sunny and her partner  
both turned to look at him.

Suddenly Rupert realized  
that the short, scrawny guy  
was actually just a _kid_.

Horrified, Rupert dropped  
the basket, hauled him  
off her, and then pushed  
the kid behind himself.

He pointed at Sunset.

"You, get out before I  
call a cop," Rupert said.

"But it's my room!" she pouted,  
crossing her arms under her tits.

"I look like I give a fuck?" Rupert said.  
"Get out, or you can go to jail  
for statutory rape, bitch."

Sunny snatched her clothes  
and ran, swearing at him.

Then Rupert looked at  
the squalling, spitting boy  
in his hand and said, "Cool it,  
kid. You're safe now. Let's  
get you properly dressed."

The white button-up was  
probably a loss, stained with  
what looked like red wine, but  
the suitcoat was intact and  
the pants could be salvaged  
if Rupert sacrificed his belt.

"The _fuck,_ dude?" said the boy.  
"I wash jusht gettin' shome!  
She'sh in businesh an', an'  
eclec -- elet -- gadgetsh."

Lovely. He was drunk, too.

Rupert suppressed a desire  
to go find Sunny and strangle her.  
ROTC would frown on that.

Instead he said, "Well, you  
look a little young for that.  
What are you, twelve?"

"I'm _fourteen!"_ the kid said.  
"I don't need to be, to be --"  
He swallowed. "-- rescued."

Oh yeah, he totally did.

Rupert looked down at  
the stark-naked, drunk teen  
who was clinging to him.  
"How did I end up in charge?"  
he muttered, overwhelmed.

Apparently, because nobody _else_  
was going to be the grownup.

Rupert crouched down so he  
could start stuffing the kid  
into the wrinkled pants,  
trying not to think about  
how the zipper got broken.

"You got a name, kid?"  
Rupert asked him.

"M'not a kid," he spat.  
"I'm in _college!"_

"That's not a name,"  
Rupert said as he  
buckled his belt around  
the ridiculously tiny waist.

Did the kid ever eat?

"They call me Love Machine,"  
the boy said with a smirk.

"You can't be Love Machine,"  
Rupert said. "You're too young.  
Besides, I'm Love Machine."

"Aww." The kid pouted.  
"Alla _good_ nicknamesh  
are already taken!"

"I'm sure you'll find  
your own someday,"  
Rupert assured him.  
"What do the teachers  
call you in class?"

"Tony Stark," he said,  
and then appallingly,  
"Know-It-All. Brat.  
Trust Fund Ticket."

Rupert rubbed a hand  
over his face. Punching out  
a professor would be bad.

He scooped up the shirt  
and began buttoning Tony  
into it. With the suitcoat  
over it, the stains wouldn't  
show too much. He hoped.

"Nice to meet you, Tony,"  
he said, standing up so he  
could put the suitcoat on  
the kid. "I'm Rupert Rhodes."

"Wow, y'r big," Tony said.  
His head barely came up  
to Rupert's chest. "Y'r like  
a colosshush." He giggled.  
"The Colosshush of Rhodes!"

Rupert thought that he had heard  
every possible bad pun on his name,  
but no, those all involved streets.  
This one was actually new.

Maybe there was something  
about this kid after all.

"Big and strong enough  
to get you home safe,"  
Rupert said, wrapping  
an arm around Tony.

"Yeah yeah, sure thing,  
Colosh -- Cush -- Rhodey,"  
said Tony, clinging to him.

It was a stupid nickname.  
It was undignified. But it ... fit,  
somehow. Well, all right then.

"Okay. Where do you live, Tony?"  
said Rhodey. "I'll walk you home."

Tony gave him the address  
of a dorm, and Rhodey got him  
there, expecting a floor supervisor  
to take the kid off his hands.

But the supervisor's room  
was locked, which it  
wasn't supposed to be.

"Fffff ... udge," Rhodey said,  
which made Tony giggle.

So Rhodey made him  
drink a bottle of water,  
fed him some aspirin,  
and held him up to pee.

Then Rhodey undressed him,  
put him in a sleep shirt, and  
tucked the boy into bed.

The way Tony stared  
at him made Rhodey  
think dark things about  
the kid's so-called family.

Rhodey put another bottle  
of water and packet of aspirin on  
Tony's end table, with a note that read,  
_Take these before trying to get up_.

He wrote his phone number underneath,  
in case Tony needed something else.

"Good night, Tony. Sleep well,"  
Rhodey said, smoothing the blanket.

Tony gave a drowsy murmur that  
wrapped around Rhodey's heart  
and squeezed like a boa constrictor.

How did he wind up in charge?  
Rhodey wondered yet again.

Because that's what Tony needed.

**Author's Note:**

> [Colonel James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/War_Machine) later becomes the superhero War Machine. 
> 
> [Sunset Bain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Bain) later becomes a nemesis of Iron Man.
> 
> [The Colossus of Rhodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes) was a giant statue standing over the harbor of Rhodes.
> 
> A more detailed discussion about the [spectrum of consent](https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/10611629.html) is here, dealing primarily with nonsexual topics and different ways that consent can be complicated.


End file.
